Swaaaaaaain! My main bird-man. I am completely in love with this champ and play him every chance I get. I just love the fact that he's so underestimated and underplayed. People think the just because he has DoTs that he can't deal the damage necessary to kill someone, which is their downfall. Knowing how to properly use his combo can make anyone go from 100 to 0 within 8 seconds - which I know seems like a long time, but since they're DoTs people tend to stick around and think they will live.

Most people forget that his E increase all subsequent damage done by him, so your best means of damage is: R - E - Ignite - Q - W. That way, you're getting the bonus damage on Ignite as well as your Q and W. Now, that's to say the opponent stupidly came into melee range, but what about if it's a passive ranged player? Your best bet is to catch them with W when they come in to last hit a creep. If you land that you want to go in and hit R - E - Q, even if it's just for harass. More often than not you will come out winning a trade unless it's, say... Cassiopeia, Katarina or early on Annie or LeBlanc. You want to hit them with your E as much as possible so time it when they go for a creep.

Swain's early farming is absolutely terrible, and the fact that they recently increased his auto attack range makes it even harder for those veteran players that had gotten used to his old range. Now, I know most people frown upon focusing on harass more than CS, but if you can effectively do both then obviously you'll be winning the lane. I never use E on minions, unless I want to take down the big creep fast, I generally try to keep it on cooldown harassing my opponent, but I will use Q on minions if I misjudge a last hit.

The way I build him depends on my lane opponent. If it's someone I'm not afraid will do a lot of damage (Mordekaiser, Kennen, Veigar, Karthus) I will tend to go with my AP / AP per level runes with a mix of magic pen and mana regen. I will start off with boots, then build Catalyst into Rod of Ages and lately off into Athene's. Depends on if they have more than 2 AD champs I will go with either Zhonya's or Rabadons, then finish off with a Void Staff. Now, if I'm against an opponent that does a lot of initial damage (Cassiopeia, Annie, LeBlanc, Viktor, Fizz) I will go with my magic resist runes. I would generally start with a Null-Magic Mantle then build into Chalice as soon as possible. I have no problem not having boots until level 6 unless the enemy jungler has a gap closer, like Nautilus. From Chalice I build Catalyst into Rod of Ages, to Athene's then the usual Rabadons/Zhonya's/Void Staff. If I'm being dominated in lane I will sometimes build Spirit Visage, or grab a Negatron Cloak.

Some might disagree, but lately I haven't been building Rabadons much, unless I'm getting fed. I much prefer the sustain over the damage, and having that Zhonya's to basically heal back up to full is unparalleled. So there you have it... That's how I generally play Swain (mid lane).

The only time I would get WoTa is if there's another AP top that's getting it, or if there is an AP top and Jungle, like Fiddle.

I max E first and then it's a toss up between Q and W after that. It all depends on who you're laning against. For melee with no gap closer I will max Q, but for ranged and melee with gap closers I will go for W.

quote Vicarious

Free week for for this champ, anyone been using him besides me?

He royally rapes late game or if you have a great carry. He can be an amazing support and I don't see why he is underused.

The average person is driven by kills. I've had more kills literally stolen from me as swain than any other champion. I'll DoT nuke someone, and 2 seconds later my bird is about to murder that enemy when that god damned ad carry right clicks him. I may be very passive about KSing, but there's only so much one can take. Like with Vlad's ult. You leave that last enemy with it on with 100 health when Ezreal decides to ult him. That pisses me off to no end too. 2/1/22 (randomised numbers to how it feels) is not a pretty score as Swain, unless you're playing Support Swain, which wouldn't work amazingly when compared to Lux or Morgana who can do what he does pre-6 from a much higher range and honestly don't need quite as much money as Swain to scale into late game.

quote MegaBassMan

^ That, plus many people can't play him properly. When you see a Kat that can beat Swain, you know something's wrong.

Yeah he takes a bit to get used to, but he was very fun when I did.

quote ShadowCrystallux

quote Archangel

Some might disagree, but lately I haven't been building Rabadons much, unless I'm getting fed. I much prefer the sustain over the damage, and having that Zhonya's to basically heal back up to full is unparalleled. So there you have it... That's how I generally play Swain (mid lane).

Hmm, he may be the only AP champion that I won't get a deathcap for. Would WotA be a good item for him? Also, what spell do you max out first?

Contrary to popular belief, Swain is a burst mage in the form of damage over time.
Deathcap should be bought.
Wota isn't the greatest, better options.
R>E>Q=W, depending on the situation.

quote Chaosfire

Contrary to popular belief, Swain is a burst mage in the form of damage over time.

Well there's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one.

I've been playing him top a lot more lately. I like passively farming against melee champs at my tower for the first 10 minutes and then just going full-in on them once I have a core item, just confusing the *bleep* out of them because they had no idea I could 100 - 0 them in 5 seconds. Sometimes I like to buy a Frozen Heart and a Spirit Visage and then just run down the lane with my ult on slowly draining the enemy as he tries to run to his tower.